ACT Urges Practical Way Forward for Bus Rapid Transit
Calls for Trial Run While Proposed Master Plan Is Reworked
Press release issued July 22, 2013
The Action Committee for Transit, Montgomery County's largest transit advocacy group with over 500 dues-paying members, called on the County Council today to move forward with bus rapid transit by undertaking an immediate trial run while returning a proposed master plan amendment to the Planning Board for needed changes.
The transit advocates asked the council to order an immediate trial of converting existing travel lanes into bus lanes on one major highway that carries heavy bus and car traffic. As possible sites, they suggested Veirs Mill Road, US 29 in Four Corners, New Hampshire Avenue in Takoma Park, or Georgia Avenue near the Beltway.
“If we're thinking about big investments in BRT, why not try it out now without spending a lot of money and see how well it works?” said ACT president Tina Slater.
The group said that the plan, which will have a public hearing at the council on Sept. 10, is too timid and could even make it harder to create bus lanes than it is now. It also does not move forward fast enough on all-day MARC rail service, which was supposed to be part of the plan along with BRT. ACT recommends that the council return the plan to the Planning Board to fix these defects.